Can top cleaner

ABSTRACT

TOOLS ARE DISCLOSED THAT CAN BE MOVED AROUND THE TOP OF A PAINT OR SIMILAR CAN FOR REMOVING MATERIAL COLLECTED IN THE LID RECEIVING ANNULAR RECESS AND ADJACENT TOP PORTIONS OF THE CAN AND RETURNING THIS MATERIAL TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CAN. THE TOOLS ALL INCLUDE A HANDLE PORTION AND A MATERIAL COLLECTING AND DISCHARGE PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF PROJECTIONS AND GROOVES FITTING THE CONTOUR OF THE GOP PORTION OF THE CAN, AND AN ANGULARLY DISPOSED GUIDING SURFACE FOR DIRECTING THE COLLECTED MATERIAL INTO THE OPEN TOP OF THE CAN AS THE TOOL IS MOVED AROUND THE TOP OF THE CAN.

8 1971 A. A. NELSON 3,551,937

CAN TOP CLEANER Filed March 5, 1969 Q 2 Sheets-Sheet l ARLEY A. NELSON BUCK/ OHM BLORI/(LAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS 1M, 1911 A A,NELSON' 7 3,551,937 CAN TOP CLEANER Y Filed March 5, 1969 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 ARLEY A NELSON /NI/E/VTOR BY BUG/(HORN, BLO/PE, kLn/rou/sr a SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,551,937 CAN TOP CLEANER Arley A. Nelson, 351 N. Rice St.,

Aberdeen, Wash. 98520 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 642,941,

June 1, 1967. This application Mar. 5, 1969, Ser. No. 804,439

Int. Cl. A471 13/02 US. Cl. -236 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Tools are disclosed that can be moved around the top of a paint or similar can for removing material collected in the lid receiving annular recess and adjacent top portions of the can and returning this material to the interior of the can. The tools all include a handle portion and a material collecting and discharge portion having a plurality of projections and grooves fitting the contour of the top portion of the can, and an angularly disposed guiding surface for directing the collected material into the open top of the can as the tool is moved around the top of the can.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application, Ser. No. 642,941 filed June 1, 1967.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Metal cans in which paint or other viscous liquids is packaged are usually provided with a lid having a press fit. This lid has a downwardly extending hollow ridge formed in the metal of the lid. The can top has an annular top portion surrounding a central opening. A downwardly extending annular recess is rolled into the metal of this top portion and is of a size which receives the ridge of the can top in sealing relationship. The annular top portion of the can usually has other concentric annular ridges and recesses which stiffen this portion of the can and usually the seal between the side Wall of the can and the outer edge of the annular top portion provides an upwardly extending outer annular ridge or lip portion;

Particularly in the case of cans for paint, varnish or f the like, the annular recess in the top portion of the can becomes filled with the viscous liquid originally contained in the can. It is difiicult to remove this liquid and no convenient way of doing so has been available. As a result some or all of such liquid is usually left in the annular recess when the top is installed on the can. This liquid hardens on standing and, upon removal of the lid, portions of this material frequently break away from the cover and fall into and contaminate the contents of the can. Also a subsequent installation of the lid without removing all of the previously hardened material frequently results in an imperfect seal between the lid and the top portion of the can so that the contents of the can deteriorate upon standing.

The tools of the present invention enable liquid material which has collected in the annular recess in the top,

construct the tool to discharge the removed material over the outer edge of the can. By providing a handle portion on the tool and a material removing and discharge portion on one end of the handle portion which has grooves and projections fitting the contour of the annular top portion of the can and also providing an anugularly disposed guiding surface on the tool, the collected material can be rapidly removed from the top portion of the can and discharged generally radially of the can when the tool is moved around this top portion. The tool may be of very simple and inexpensive construction.

An object of the invention is therefore to provide a tool for rapidly and efficiently cleaning the annular top portions of paint cans or the like and discharging any material thus removed from the top portion in a direction generally radially of the can.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the tool for a can top cleaner showing a paint or other similar can partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the tool;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the tool taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1 with a portion of the can broken away;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale of a different type of can, showing a portion of a lid in position on the can;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of a modified type of tool in the position of the tool during operation of the tool;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the tool of FIG. 7 in the same position;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal section of the tool taken On the line 9-9 of FIG. 7 with the tool in the same position as in FIG. 7, and also in operative position on the top portion of a can;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 7 of a further modified tool;

FIG. 11 is a partial vertical section taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the tool of FIG. 10 looking toward the right in FIG. 10

FIG. 13 is a cross section of the tool taken on the line 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a top elevation of the tool of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is an end elevation of the tool taken along the line 15-15 of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 1 TO 5 Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a cleaner tool 10 for cleaning the top portion, including an annular recess 12 of a can 14 having a lip 16 as shown. The tool .10 has a handle portion 20 which terminates at one end in a material removing and dlscharging portion 212'. The

portion 22; has a series of projections 24 and a series of grooves 26, formed along the underside of such portion.

The groove 26 adjacent a V-shaped notch 30 in the end of the portion 22 is adapted to receive the lip 16 of the can 14 and one of the projections 24 is adapted to be received in the annular recess 12 in the top portion of the can.

Along the upper part of the material removing and discharge portion 22 there is a grooved upper surface 34 to collect all of the material removed from the top portion of the can including the annular recess 12 and directing it into the can 14 as shown by arrow 38 of FIG. as the tool is moved forward in the direction of the arrow 40 shown in FIG. 1. As will be apparent from FIGS. 1 and 5, the front of the material removing and discharge portion 22 provides a front surface 44 which extends upwardly and rearwardly of the tool and which is also angularly disposed with respect to a radius of the can so as to have a trailing inner edge 48 and a leading outer edge with respect to the can to cause material removed from the top portion of the can to be discharged into the interior of the can.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 6 TO 9 FIG. 6 shows a slightly different can construction from that of FIGS. 1 and 5, including a top portion 50 with an upwardly extending ridge 52 not shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 and showing a can lid 54 in position with a downwardly extending annular ridge 56 received in the annular recess .12 of the top portion 50. The tools of FIGS. 7 to are shaped to fit the contour of the can top portion 50 of FIG. 6 but it will be apparent that these tools can be easily shaped to fit the contour of the can top portion of FIGS. 1 and 5, and conversely the tool of FIGS. 1 to 5 can be shaped to fit the can top portion of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show a modifiied tool 58 which is much simpler in construction than the tool of FIGS. 1 to 5. The tool of FIGS. 7 to 9 is formed of a single piece of strip material which may, for example, be of a suitable plastic material having substantial mechanical strength and also preferably having a small amount of flexibility and resiliency.

Thus nylon or polyethylene are examples of suitable materials. The strip has a handle portion 60 and a material removing and discharging portion 62., the latter portion having a projection 64 fitting the interior of the annular recess 12 and other projections 66 and intermediate grooves 68 formed to fit the contour of the upper surface of the top portion '50 of the can shown in FIG. 6, when the tool is properly positioned with respect to the top portion of the can.

The projections 64 and '66 and grooves 68 on the lower end of the tool 58 fit the contour of the top portion of the can only when the tool is positioned so as to be angularly disposed with respect to a radius of the can and the tool is inclined rearwardly. Thus the projections on the lower end of the tool cannot even be inserted into the grooves in the top portion 50 of the can unless the tool is angularly disposed and positioned as shown in FIG. 9.

The lower or material removing and discharge portion 62 of the tool can be formed by a properly contoured shearing die but the diretcion of movement of the die must be in the direction of the annular ridges and recesses of the top portion of the can with the strip held in the relative position shown in FIG. 9. For the greatest accuracy the die should be moved in a path concentric with the center of the annular recesses and ridges but sufiicient accuracy is obtained by reciprocating movement of the die relative to the strip in the direction of the arrow 70 in FIG. 8.

It will be apparent that the tool of FIGS. 7 to 9 will remove material from the top surfaces of the can top portion 50 when moved forwardly around the top portion in the direction of the arrow 71 of FIG. 9, and that the front surface 6 of the lower or material removing and discharge portion 62 of the tool is a guiding surface for the material removed from the top portion of the can which is angularly disposed with respect to the radius of the can when the tool is in operative position on the can, and that this surface has a trailing inner edge 72 and a leading outer edge so as to guide the removed material into the interior of the can.

4 DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 10 TO 15 The modification of the tool shown in FIGS. 10 to 15 is of more complicated construction than that of the modification of FIGS. 7 to 9 but, in general, can be made of thinner material, since it embodies a longitudinally stiffening rib. Thus the tool 73 of FIGS. 10 to 13 includes a handle portion 74 and a material removing discharge portion 76 constructed of a longitudinally extending strip of thin material which is formed at its lower end to provide projections 78 and grooves 80 on its lower surface in the form of convolutions or corrugations of the sheet to fit the annular contour of the upper surface of the top portion of the can of FIG. 6 including the annular recess 12. As indicated in the various figures these corrugations taper rearwardly and upwardly of the tool so as to merge into a fiat sheet.

The grooves 80 and projections 78 terminate adjacent a guiding surface 82 on the front of an upwardly inclined part '83 of the material removing and discharge portion of the tool. The portion 83 and surface 82 extend rearwardly and upwardly at a greater inclination than the part containing the projections 78 and grooves 80 and also at a greater inclination than the handle portion 74 to which it is connected. A stiffening rib 84 extends along one edge of the tool and conforms to the different inclinations of the handle portion and the two parts of the material removing and discharge portion 76. The material guiding surface 82 on the front of the tool is angularly disposed relative to the other portions of the tool and when the tool is placed in operative position on the top portion 50 of the can of FIG. 6, this surface is angularly disposed with respect to a radius of the can top portion and has an inner trailing edge 86 with respect to the can top portion. The stiffening rib 84 is then along the outer and leading edge so as to prevent the removed material from spilling outwardly over the lip of the can.

The tool of FIGS. 10 to 15 is preferably made of a molded plastic material and, in general, the various portions can be substantially thinner in cross section than the tool of FIGS. 7 to 9, since it is reinforced against bending by a stiffening rib 84. It will be apparent that any of the tools of the present invention may be made of various sizes to fit the contour of top portions of cans of different sizes and construction.

Additional embodiments of the invention in this specification will occur to others and therefore it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the appended claims and not by the embodiments described hereinabove. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A tool for removing material collected in an annular recess and on adjacent top surfaces of an annular top portion of a metal can having a central top opening and a lid for said opening provided with a downwardly extending annular ridge received in said recess in sealing relationship;

said tool comprising a handle portion and a material removing and discharge means at the lower end of said handle portion when said tool is positioned in operative posiition on said top portion with said handle potrion extending upwardly from said top portion;

said means including projections and grooves on the lower end of said tool for fitting said annular recess and adjacent top surfaces and for removing said material from said annular recess when said tool is moved forwardly around said top portion;

said means also including a material guiding surface on the front of said tool extending upwardly and rearwardly from said projections and grooves;

said guiding surface being angularly disposed with respect to a radius of the can when said projections and grooves on said tool in said operative position fit said annular recess and adjacent top surfaces of said top portion so as to have a leading edge and a trailing edge with respect to said top portion and cause said material removed from said recess and adjacent top surfaces to be discharged generally radially of said top portion.

2. A tool in accordance with claim 1 in which said handle portion is a strip of material having front and back surfaces and side edges and said projections and grooves are formed at one end of said strip so that said projections and grooves \fit said annular recess and adjacent top surfaces of the top portion of said can when said surfaces of the strip are angularly disposed with respect to said radius and the lower portion of said front surface provides said material guiding surface.

3. A tool in accordance with claim 2 in which the strip of material is flat throughout and said projections extend longitudinally of the strip from said lower end of said strip.

4. A tool in accordance with claim 1 in which said projections and grooves are provided by convolultions of thin sheet material.

5. A tool in accordance with claim 4 in which said convolutions extend longitudinally of said tool and taper toward the handle portion of said tool and terminate adjacent said guiding surface.

6. A tool in accordance with claim 4 in which the tool is constructed of thin sheet material and said tool has a reinforcing rib extending along said leading outer edge of said means and continuing along the handle portion of said tool.

7. A tool in accordance with claim 1 in which said guiding surface is angularly disposed to have a leading outer edge and a trailing inner edge with respect to said top portion to cause said removed material to be discharged into the interior of said can.

References Cited WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner r L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner 

